Selected quad for the lemma: fire_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
fire_n	body_n	earth_n	element_n	4,634	5	9.8975	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A01313	A goodly gallerye with a most pleasaunt prospect, into the garden of naturall contemplation, to behold the naturall causes of all kynde of meteors, as wel fyery and ayery, as watry and earthly, of whiche sort be blasing sterres, shooting starres, flames in the ayre &c. tho[n]der, lightning, earthquakes, &c. rayne dewe, snowe, cloudes, springes &c. stones, metalles, earthes &c. to the glory of God, and the profit of his creaturs.	Fulke, William, 1538-1589.	1563 (1563)	STC 11435; ESTC S102684	57,855	146

cloudes into waters c. ¶ Why they be called perfectly mixed The last sort namely earthly Meteores are called perfectly mixed because they wil not easely be chaunged and resolued from that forme which they are in as be stones metalles and other mineralles According to the qualitie of the matter they are diuided into moist drie impressions consisting either of vapores or exhalations vapores are called moist and exhalations drie whiche termes must be well noted because they must be much vsed ¶ Of the general cause of al Meteores and first of the materiall cause The mater whereof the moste part of Meteores dooth consiste is either water or earth for out of y e water proceade vapors and out of the earth come exhalations Vapor as the Philosopher sayeth is a certain watrie thing and yet is not water so exhalation hath a certain earthly nature in it but yet it is not yearth For the better vnderstanding of vapors vnderstande that they be as it were fumes or smokes warme moist whiche will easely be resolued into water muche like to the breath that proceadeth out of a mans mouth or out of a pot of water standing on y e fiere These vapors are drawen vp from the waters and warry places by the heate of the Sunne euen vnto the midle region of the ayre and there after diuerse maner of meating with coldnes many kynde of moist Meteors are generated as sometime cloudes and rayne sometime snowe and hayle and that suche vapors are so drawen vp by the Sunne it is playne by experiēce for if there be a plash of water on a smothe and hard stoone standing in the heate of the sunne it wyl soone be drye whiche is none otherwyse but y t the sonne draweth vp the water in thinne vapores for no man is so fonde to saye that it can sinke into stoone or metall and it is as greatfoly to thinke it is consumed to nothyng for it is a general rule that that whiche is once a thing can not by chaunging become nothyng wherefore it followeth that the water on the stoone as also on the earth is for the moste part drawen vp when the stoone or earth is dried Exhalations are as smokes that be hoat and drie whiche because they be thinne lygther then vapors passe the lowest and midle region of the ayre and are caried vp euen to the highest region where for the excessiue heat by nearenes of the fier they are kindled and cause many kinde of impressions They ar also sometimes viscose ▪ that is to say clāmy by reason wherof thei cleuing together not being dispersed are after diuerse soortes set on fier and appeare somtims like Dragōs somtim like Goats somtime like cādels somtime like speares By y t which is spokē of vapors exhalations it is euidēt y t out of y e fier the ayer no matter wherof meteores shold consist can be drawē because of their subtiltie thinnes For al exhalatiō is by making a grosser body more thinne but y e fier we mean y e elemētal fier not the fire of the kitchē chimney is so subtil thin y t it cannot be made thinner likewise the ayre is so thin y t if it be made thinner it is chāged into fire as the fire if it wer made thicker wold becom aire so the aire being made grosser wold be turned into water Wherfor to cōclude this part y e great quantitie of matter that causeth these meteores is takē out of y e earth and the water As for y e aire the fire they ar mixed with this matter as with al other things but not so abundauntly that they may be sayd the material cause of any Meteore though without them none can be generated The efficient cause of all Meteores is that cause whiche maketh them euen they are not to nyghe to the direct beames nor to farre of from them there is a moderate heate drawyng out great aboundaunce of matter so that in those contries many Meteores of many sortes as generated as in the farre North partes are few but watrie impressions Also in Autumne Sprynge are oftener Meteores séen then in Sommer and Wynter except it be in such places where the Sommer and Wynter are of the temper of Spryng and Autūne Let this be sufficient for the efficient causes of impressions as well first and principall as second and particular Concerning the formall and finall cause we haue litle to saye because the one is so secret that it is knowen of no mā y e other so euidēt y t it is playne to all men The essentiall forme of all substaunces Gods wisdome comprehendeth the vniuersall chiefe and last end of all thinges is the glory of God Mydle endes if they may be so called of these impressions are manifold profites to Gods creatures to make the earth fruitfull to purge the ayre to sett forth his power to threathen his vengeaunce to punyshe the worlde to moue to repentaunce all the which are referde to one end of Gods eternall glory euer to be praysed Amen ¶ Of the places in whiche they are generated THe places in whiche Meteors are caused be either the ayre or the earth in y e aire be generated rayne hayle snow dew blasing starres thonder lightning c. In the earth be welles springs earthquakes metalls minerals c. made and as it were in their mothers belly begotten fashioned But for the better vnderstanding hereof such as haue not tasted y e principles of Philosophie must cōsider y e ther be iiij elemēts Earth water Ayre Fire one cōpassing another round about sauing y t the waters by Gods cōmaundement ar gathered into one place y t the land might apeare The highest is y e spere of the fire which toucheth the hollownes of the Moones heauen the next is the ayre whiche is in the hallownes of the fyer the ayre within his hollownes comprehendeth the water and the earth whiche bothe make but one Spheare or Globe or as the commen sort may vnderstande it one Bal. So eche elemēt is w cin another as y e skales of a perle ar on aboue another or to vse a grosse similitude as y e pieles of an oniō ar one w c in āother after y e same sort frō y e highest heuē to y e earth y t is lowest one part y t is greater compasseth roūd about another that is lesser But for this present purpose it is to be knowen y t the ayer is diuided into thre regions y e hyghest the midle and the lowest The hyghest because it is next to the region of y e fier is exceading hoate the lowest beinge next the earth and the waters is temperat and by repercussion or striking back of the sunne beames waxeth hoate and by absence of them is made colde being subiect to Wynter and Sommer The midle region of y e ayre is always exceading

it changeth their collours frō black to whyte frō white to black Vitruuius wryteth that in Arcadia is a water called Nonacrinis whiche no vessell of syluer brasse or Irō can hold but it breaketh in pieces and nothynge but a mules hoofe wyll holde it and conteyne it In Illyria garmētes y t are holdē ouer amost cold well ar kindled set on fyre In the Ile of Andros where the tēple of Bacchus stoode is a well that the fift day of Ianuary flowed wyne Isidore sayeth there is a well in Italy that healeth the woundes of y t eyes In the Ile of Chios is a well that maketh men dulwitted that drinke therof There is another that causeth men to abhorre lust Lechnus a spryng of Arcadia is good against abortions In Scicilia are two spryngs of which one maketh a woman fruictfull and the other barren In Sardania be whote welles that heale sore eyes In an Ile of Pontus the ryuer Astares ouerfloweth the fieldes in whiche the shéepe that be fedde doth geue black mylke In Aethiopia is a lake whose water is lyke oyle Also manye sprynges of oyle haue brooken foorth of the earth which cōmeth of the viscositie or fatnes of y e same earth The lake Clitorie in Italye maketh men that drynke of it to abhorre wyne The lake Pentasium as Solinus saith is deadly to serpentes wholsom to mē Seneca wryteth of certeyn lakes that wyll beare men which can not swymm And that in Siria is a lake in whiche brickes do swymme and no heuy thing wyll sinke It is said that the ryuer Rhene in Germany wyll drowne basterd childrē that be cast in it but dryue alonde them that be lawfully begotten The ryuer Hypanis in Schithia eueryday bryngeth foorth litle bladders out of whiche flyes do come that die the same nyght Matrona the ryuer of Germany as y e common people saith neuer passeth day but he taketh some praye ¶ Of the Sea THe sea in this treatise hath place as a mixed substaunce for els the elemēt of waters being simple were not here to be spoken of The sea is the naturall place of the waters into which all ryuers and other waters are receiued at the length And here it is to be vnderstanded y t the very proper naturall place of the water were to couer al the earth for so be the elementes placed The earth lowest roūd about the earth the water about the water the ayre and about the ayre the fyre But God the most mighty and wyse creator of all thinges that the earth might in som partes be inhabited of men and beastes cōmaunded the waters to be gathered into one place that the drie londe might appeare and called the drie land earth and the gathering of waters he called seas In the sea are these two thinges to be considered the saltnes the ebbinge and flowyng ¶ Of the saltnes THe saltnes of the sea accordinge to Aristotles mynde is caused by y e sunn that draweth from it all thinne swete vapors to make rayne leauing the reste as the setling or bottom whiche is salt But men of oure tyme peraduenture more truely do not take this for the only and sufficient cause to mak so great a quantitie of water salt but say that the sea by Gods wysdome is gathered into such valleys of the earth as were other wyse barren vnfruictful such carthes are salte the sea water then mixed with that earth must néedes be salt els ryuers by Aristotles mynde should be salt as well as the sea The Reader maye chuse whiche opinion is most probable ¶ Of the ebbing and flowyng THe ebbing and flowing of the sea as Aristole semeth to teach is by reason of Exhalations that be vnder the water whiche dryue it to and fro according to contrary boundes and limites as vpwarde and downwarde of wyde and narrowe déepe and shallowe This opinion of Aristotle also as more subtile thē true experiēce teacheth men to mislike to ascribe the cause of ebbing flowyng to the course of the moone which ruleth ouer moysture as the sunne doth ouer-heate for frō the new Moone to the full all humors do encrease and from the ful to the newe moone decrease agayne Also the very true tyme of the ebbing and flowyng may be knowen by the course of the Moone with whome as the ladye of moysture we will close vp the fourth booke of moiste and watry impressiōs ❧ The fift booke of earthly Meteores or bodies perfectly mixed THis last treatise conteyneth suche bodies whose chief matter is the earth are called ꝑfectly mixed because they ar not easly resolued in to the chiefe matter wherof they ar generated These are deuided into foure kyndes The first be diuerse sortes of earth the second be liquors concreat the third be metalls and metalliques the fourthe be stoones This deuision is not altogether perfect both for that ther be many of these mineralls whiche partake of two kyndes also for that the names of some of these kyndes may be sayde of other Yet mindyng as plainly as can be to declare the thynges them selues the controuersye and cauillation of names shall not greatly trouble vs. Especially seyng we pretende not to teache Philosophers but such as nede a ruder plainer instruction They may therfor be cōtēt w c this diuisiō which shal not serue them to dispute of these matters but to vnderstād y e truth of these thinges that they desyre Of these fowr therfore we will speake orderly and generally not mynding to intreate of euery particuler kynde for that were infinit but to open suche vniuersall causes as they whiche haue witte may learne if they list to apply vnto al particulers ¶ Of earthes THe earth is an element one of the foure cold and drie moste grosse and solyde moste heauy and weighty the lowest of all other in place When I saye an element I meane a simple body vncompounded This earth is no Meteore but as it was shewed in the water to y e end ther should be generatiō of things there is no element that we can haue whiche is pure and symple but all are mixed and cōpounde Our fyre is grosse and compounde so is our ayer our water and our earth But the earth notably and aboue the rest is mixed For the puer and naturall earth is drye and cold but we sée much to be moist and much to be hoat The naturall earth is blacke of collor but we sée many earthes white many yelowe and many redde So that first the greatest part of y e earth is mixed with water that maketh it to cleane together with ayer and some fyre which make an oyly fatt or claymy earth as is claye made c. Another great part is dryed not into the natural drienes of the first qualitie

it is called Castor and Pollux The foulishe fyre is an Exhalation kendled by meanes of violent mouing when by cold of the night in the lowest region of the ayre it is beaten downe then commonly if it be light séeketh to ascende vpward is sent down againe so it danseth vp downe Els if it moue not vp and downe it is a great lompe of glueysh or oyly matter that by mouing of the heate in it selfe is enflamed of it selfe as moyst haye wyll be kyndled of it selfe In whote and fenny countries these lyghtes are often séen and where as is abondaunce of suche vnctuus and fat matter as about churchyardes wher through the corruptiō of the bodies ther buried y e earth is ful of suche substance wherfore in churchyardes or places of cōmon buriall oftentimes ar such lightes séen which ignorant superstitious fooles haue thought to be soules tormēted in the fyre of purgatorie In dede y e deuill hath vsed these lightes although they be naturally caused as strong delusions to captiue the myndes of men w c feare of the Popes purgatorie wherby he did opē iniury to the bloud of Christ which only purgeth vs frō al our sinnes and deliuereth vs from al tormēts both temporall and eternal according to the saying of the wyse mā the soules of the ryghteous are in the hands of God and no torment toucheth them But to returne to the lightes in whiche there ar yet twoo thinges to be considered First why they leade men out of their waye And secondly why they séeme to follow men and go before thē The cause why they leade men out of the waye is that mē whyle they take hede to such lights and are also sore afrayde they forgett their waye and then being ones but a litle out of their waye they wāder they woote not whether to waters pyttes other very daungerous places Which when at lengthe they happe the waye home wyll tell a greate tale how they haue béen lead about by a spirite in the lykenes of fyre Nowe the cause why they séeme to goe before men or to followe them some men haue sayde to be the mouing of the ayer by the goyng of the man which ayre moued shold driue them forward if they were before and drawe them after if they were behynd But this is no reason at all that the fire which is oftētimes thre or fowre miles distaunt from the man that walketh shold be moued to and froo by that ayre which is moued through his walkinge but rather the mouing of the ayre the mans eyes causeth the fyre to séeme as though it moued as the Moone to chyldren séemeth if they are before it to run after them if she be before them to run before them that they can not ouertake her though she séeme to be very neare them Wherfore these lyghtes rather séeme to moue then that they be moued in deade ¶ Of Helena Castor and Pollux WHen the lyke substaunce in the lowest region of the ayre ouer the Sea by the lyke occasion is set on fyre if it be one onely it is called Helena if ther be two they ar called Castor and Pollux These impressiōs will oftentimes cleue to the maste other partes of the ships by reason of the clammynes and fatnes of the matter Helena was of the Heathē men taken as a Goddesse the daughter of Iupiter and Leda ▪ Castor Pollux were her brethren Helena was the occasion y t Troy was destroyed therfore the Mariners by experience tryinge that one flame of fyre apearyng alone signified tempest at hād supposed the same flame to be the goddesse Helena of whom they looked for nothing but destruction But when two lightes ar séen together they ar a token of fayre wether good luck the Mariners therfor beleued that they were Castor and Pollux whiche saylyng to séeke their syster Helena beyng caried to Troye by Paris were neuer séen after and thought to be translated into y e nomber of the Gods that gyue good successe to them that sayle as we reade in the last chapter of the Actes of the Apostles that the shyppe wherein S. Paule sayled had a badge of Castor and Pollux A natural cause why thei may thus fore shewe either tēpest or calmnes is this One flame alone may geue warning of a tempest because that as the matter thereof is compact and not dissolued so it is lyke that the matter of tempeste whiche neuer wanteth as wynde and cloudes is styll together and not dissipated then is it lyke not long after to aryse By two flames together may be gathered that as this Exhalation whiche is very thycke is diuided so the thycke matter of tēpest is dissolued scactered abroade by the same cause that this is diuided Therfore not without a reason the Mariner to his mates may promyse a prosperous course ¶ Of flames that apeare vpon the heares of men or beastes THere is yet another kynde of fyry impression which is flames of fire vpon the hears of men and beastes especially horses These are somtime clāmy Exhalations scatered abroade in the ayre in small partes which in the night by resistaunce of the colde are kendled cleauyng on horses eares on mens heades shoulders that ryde or walke In that they cleaue vpō heares it is by the same reason that the dewe wyll be séen also vpon heares or garmentes whose woll is hyghe as fryese mantels and suche lyke Another sorte of these flames are caused when mens or beasts bodies being chaffed sēd forth a fat clāmy swet which is in like maner kīdled as y e sparkes of fire y t ar séen when a black horse is curred Liuius reporteth of Seruius Tullius y e as he lay aslepe being a childe his heare séemed to be all on a flame which for all that did not burne his heare or hurt him The lyke historie he reciteth of one Marius a Knyght of Rome that as he made an oration to his Souldiors in Spaine they sawe his head burning on a lyght fyre he hym selfe not ware of it Thus muche concerning these flames ¶ Of Comets or blasing Starres A Comete is an Exhalation whote drye of great quantitie fat and clammye harde compacte lyke a greate lompe of pitche which by the heate of the sunne is drawen out of the earth into the hyghest region of the ayre and there by y e excessiue heat of the place is set on fire apearing lyke a starre with a blasinge tayle and sometyme is moued after the motion of the ayre whiche is circuler but it neuer goeth downe out of the cōpasse of syght thought it be not séen in the daye tyme for the bryghtnes of the sunne but styll burneth vntyll all the matter be consumed An argument of y e greatnes is this that there was neuer any Comet yet perceyued but at the lest it endured seuen dayes but much lōger they haue bene séen namely

to the swyft mouinge of the fyer and the lyght thereof to oure eyes and the slow mouynge of the soūd vnto our eares and hearynge These thrée kyndes of lyghtnynges are more feareful then hurteful but the fourth seldome passeth w tout som damage doing ¶ Of the fourth kynde called Fulmen THe moste dangerus violent hurtfull kinde of lightning is called Fulmen whose generation is suche as followeth What tyme a whote Exhalation is enclosed in a cloude and breakynge the same bursteth foorth it is set on fyre and with wonderfull greate force stryken downe toward the earthe The cracke of thonder that is made when this lyghtenynge breaketh out is sodayne shorte and greate lyke the sounde of a gonne And often tymes a greate stoone is blowne out with it which they call the thonder bolt which is made on this manner In the Exhalation whiche is gathered out of the earthe is muche earthy matter with clotterynge together by moysture beyng clammy by nature consistynge of brymstone and other metallycke substance by the excessiue heate is hardened as a brycke is in the fyere and with the myghtye force of the Exhalation stronglye cast towarde the earthe and stryketh downe steples and hyghe buildynges of stoone and of woodde passeth through them and setteth them on fire it cleueth trées and setteth them on fire and the stronger the thynge be that resisteth it the more harme it dothe to it It is sharpe poynted at one ende and thycke at the other ende whiche is caused by reason that the moyster part as heauyer goeth to the bottome of it So is the toppe smal and the bottom thick Men wryte that the thonderbolt goeth neuer aboue fiue foote deepe whē it falleth vpon the earth whiche standeth with reason both because the strengthe of it is weakened before it com so neare the ground and also because the continual thicknes of the earth breaketh the force were it neuer so great Both Aristotle Seneca and Plinius deuide this lyghtning into thrée kyndes ¶ Of the fyrst THe first is drye whiche burneth not to be felte but deuideth and perceth with wonderfull swyftnes For beinge subtyle and pure it passeth through the pores of anye thynge be they neuer so small and suche thynges as giue place vnto it it hurteth not but suche thyngs as resisteth it deuideth and perseth For it wyll melt mony in mens purses the purses being whole vnharmed Yea it wyl melte a swerde in the scabberde and not hurt the scabberd at al. A wyne vessell it wyll cleaue and yet the wyne shalbe so dull that by the space of thrée dayes it wyll not ronne out It wil hurt a mans hande and not his gloue It wil burne a mans bones within hym to ashes and yet his skynne and fleshe shall appeare fayre as though nothinge had commen to hym Yea otherwhyle the whole man in the momēt of an howre shalbe burned to ashes where as his clothes shal not séeme to haue béen touched It wyll also kyll the chylde in the mothers belly not hurte the mother And all because the mater is very subtyle and thinne burnyng and passinge through whatsoeuer it be that wyll not geue it frée passage ¶ Of the seconde kinde THe seconde kynde is moyste and because it is very thinne it burneth not to ashes but only blasteth or scorcheth trees corne and grasse and by reason of the moistnes it maketh all thynges black that it commeth neare as moyste wood burning is smokye and maketh thynges neare it to be blacke smokie ¶ Of the thirde kinde THe thirde kynde is moste lyke oure commen fyre that we haue here on the earth of grosse and earthly substāce wherfore it leaueth a prynte where it hath béen or els consumeth it into ashes if it be suche a body as wylbe burned with fyre ¶ Of the maruayls of Lightening and their causes BEside the wonderful effectes of lightnyng that haue been already remembred there be many other whiche hereafter ensue with the reason and causes vnto them belonging as thus The nature of lyghtning is to poyson beastes that are stryken therewith as though they had béen bytten by a serpent The cause of this is that the matter of lightnyng is muche infected with brymstone and other poysonous metallike substances whiche will poyson the rather in lightening because it is thinn geueth thē passage into euery part of the body It is notable that Seneca writeth howe wyne vessels of wood beinge burned with lightning the wyne wold stande styll and not runne out the reason hereof is the swyfte alteration and chaunge wherby also all the clammynes of the wyne is drawen to the outward moste part and so kéepeth in the wyne as in a skynne that by the space of thrée dayes it wyll not ronne It wyl also poyson wyne in so muche that they whiche drynke thereof shall eyther be madde or dye of it The cause hereof was set foorth before Lightning that striketh a poysenous beaste purgeth it from the poyson in so muche that it causeth a serpent or snake whiche it kylleth to breade wormes whiche otherwyse it would not doe but beyng purged from the naturall poyson by the swyfte percyng of the lightning nothyng letteth but that it may breade wormes as all other corrupte fleshe wyll doe If lyghtning strike one that slepeth it openeth his eyes and of one that waketh it shytteth the eyes The cause is this that it waketh hym that sléepeth and kylleth hym before he can close his eyes agayne And hym that waketh it so amaseth that he wynketh as he wyll doe at any sodayne chaunse so he dyeth before he can open his eies agayne All lyuynge thynges turne their face towarde the stroke of the lyghtenyng because it is their nature to turne their head if any thīg com sodēly behind them The reste that haue theyr face toward it when it commeth neuer turne before they be kylled The reason why it kylleth the child in the mothers wombe not hurtynge the mother is the tendernes of the one and the strengthe of the other when the lightenyng is not vehement otherwyse both should dye together Sometyme lyghtening burneth only the garmentes shoes or heare of mē not hurtynge theyr bodyes and then the Exhalation is nothyng vehement Some time it kylleth a man there apereth no wounde without neyther anye hurte within no not so muche as any signe of burnyng for then the Exhalation whiche being kindled is called lyghtning is wōderfull subtill and thinne so swiftly passing through that it leaueth no marke or token behinde it They that beholde the lightening are either made blynd or their face swelleth or els become lepers for that fyery Exhalation receiued into the pores of their face and eyes maketh their face to swel and breake out into a leprosie and also drieth vp the Christalline humor of their eyes so that consequētly they

but as a thing ones mixed and after dryed ether by to cold as sand grauell c. or els by heate as chalke oker c. And yet somwhat more plainly and particularly to discourse vpen these causes admitting the naturall collour of the earth to be black of y e water to be blewe of the ayre to be whyte of the fyre to be ruddy it followeth that vpon the mixtion of these collours or chief domination of them al thinges hath their collour The grosse substaunce of the earth therefore beinge diuersly myxed with other elementes and those myxtures againe being eftsones altered by dyuerse and sometime cōtrary qualities hath brought forth so manye kyndes of earth as claye marle chalke sand grauell c. Claye is mixed with fat moisture takyng his colloure of the mixture with redde from whyte but beyng colde it is not so fructfull as marle whiche is not alwayes so moiste as it Chalke is an earth by heat cōcocted after diuerse mixtions and dried vp Oker both yelow redde with suche like are of the same nature with mixtiō of redde more or lesse Sande and grauell are dried erthes as it were froasen by colde grauell is grosse and apparent sand though it be finer is of the same generation cōsisting of many small bodies which ar cōgeled into stones Sād semeth to be clay dried by cold and coacted together into small stones wherof some ar through shining which were the moyst partes the thicke were of the grosse parte The same is grauel but of greater stoones consisting The lyke iudgement is to be geuen of all other kyndes of earth whose generation by the similitude of these wyll not be very harde to fynde out They that lyst to knowe the diuerse kyndes of earthes must haue recourse to Plinius Cardane and other wryters that recite a great nomber of them but these are the chief and most commen kyndes ¶ Of liquors concreat WE take not lyquors cōcreat so largely as the worde dothe signifie for than should we comprehende bothe the other kyndes followyng But onely those liquors called in latin Succi which are as it were midle betwene metals stones of whiche some being fat only do burne as brimstone séecoles geate bitumen c. and the kyndes of all these other some doth not burne as salt alū coperus saltpeter c. and the kindes of these Of the first sort which are generated of earthy ayry vapors fumes Exhalations the chief most notable is brimstone which semeth to be the matter of all drie whot qualities y t ar in earthly Meteores The rest are generated of such lyke vapors as brymstone is but thē they be diuersly mixed As y e coles haue much earth mixed with brimstone Gette séemeth to be all one but better concocted then coles Of amber is great contentiō whether it be a mineral or y e sperme of an whale for it is foūd in the sea cast vp on the shore Now y e whales séede being of the very same qualities is takē more lesse cōcreate of diuers hardnes som al most as hard as amber som softer som liquid Yet Cardan plainly defineth that amber is a minerall Whether he haue reason or experiēce cōtrary to y e vulgar opinion let them consider that list to cōtende These minerals that will resolue with fyre it is apparent that they were concreat with colde In that they burne it is manifest they haue a fatte and clāmy substaūce mixed with them As the other kynde hath not whiche wyll not resolue so well with fyre as w c water whiche be salt coperus saltpeters c. these burne not being watry earthy not fatt vnctuus nor clammy These be of diuerse collours black as coles and geat because ther is much earthy substaunce mixed with their sulphureus matter Some be shere as saltt and alume hauing a substaunce watry dryed and concreat Coperus is greane because it hath muche colde matter that is blwe mixed with it Salt the most cōmen and necessary of all these liquors concreat that be moist not fatty hath two maner of generations one naturall and the other artificiall The naturall generation is when it is first generated in the earth after commeth the water of the sea and is infected with it out of whiche the salt is againe artificially gathered Of these liquors concreat be those strange wells and sprynges infected of whiche was spoken in the latter ende of the fourth booke Most notably brimstone causeth the whot bathes and burneth in aetna of Scicilia and Vesuuius of Italye casting vp the pumise stones of whiche is no place here to entreate ¶ Of Metalles MEtalles be substaunces perfectlye myxed that wyll melte with heate and be brought into all manner of fashions that a man wyl Of these the Alcumistes saye there be seuen kyndes to aunswere to the seuen Planetes Gold syluer copper tynne lead Iron quicksyluer that they cal Mercury But sauing their authorities quicksyluer is no more a metall then brymstone whiche is as necessarye to the generation of metall as quicsyluer is For they all agrée that all metalles are generated of sulphur that is brymstone whiche because it is whot they call the father and Mercury that is quicksiluer whiche because it is moyst they call the mother So by as good reason may they call brymstone a metalle as Mercury Then there remaineth but six perfect metalls Gold Syluer Copper Tinne Lead and Iron ¶ Of Golde THat moste vnprofitable and hurtfull of al metalls golde which most men disprayse and yet all men would haue is of all other metalles the rarest it is only ꝑfect all other be corruptible Gold neuer corrupteth by rust because it is pure from poysonus infection most solide that it receiueth not the ayre into it which causeth all thinges to corrupt It is perfectly concocted with sufficient heate and mixture of Sulphur all other metalls either are not so well concocted or els they haue not the due quātitie of brimstone This opiniō hath also place among the Alcumistes y t because nature in al her workes seketh the best ende she entēdeth of al metals to make gold ▪ but being let either for wante of good mixture or good cōcoction she bringeth forth other metals in deede not so precius but much more profitable the lesse pretius the more ꝓfitable for ther is more vse to the necessitie of mannes life in Iron and lead then is in golde syluer But either the bewtie or the perfectiō or at lestwyse the rarenes of gold siluer haue obteineth the estimatiō of al men so y t for them is sold al maner of things holy prophane bodely spirituall What paynes doth not men take to wynn gold euery man hath one way or other to hunt after it but y e Alcumist despising all other wayes as slow vnnaturall vnprofitable laboreth ether to helpe nature